On This Date

Forget what you were taught in seventh grade-this riveting book takes readers down American history’s back alleys and side streets.

From the arrival of the Mayflower through the 2016 election, ON THIS DATE explores five hundred years of American history, revealing a compelling tale for each day in the calendar year.

Drawing from Carl M. Cannon’s popular RealClearPolitics’ “Morning Note,” ON THIS DATE is focused on fascinating — and sometimes unknown — stories behind specific dates in U.S. history: What inspired Abraham Lincoln to grow his famous beard, what Dwight Eisenhower really thought about playing football against the great Jim Thorpe, the legal grounds for the first American divorce, who wrote “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” — and who profited from it.

Colorful yet authoritative, ON THIS DATE debunks some popular myths and celebrates America’s forgotten heroes.

What's Inside

Reader Reviews

Praise

"[ON THIS DATE] is rich in forgotten facts about celebrated patriots and unearthed tales of the daring and genius of ordinary Americans. Popular history at its very best, as entertaining as it is instructive, and a moving appreciation of the restless upstarts who carved a nation from the wilderness and made it the most successful enterprise in human history."—Senator John McCain

"ON THIS DATE shows the country as it really has been. It is also a love letter to America. [It] will give those who have been deprived of the experience the opportunity to fall in love with their country. For those who have been more fortunate, it will provide a chance to fall in love all over again."—RealClearPolitics.com

"A terrific book! America's rich history told as a daily heartbeat, not a dry list of dates. Everyone is here: the great and the forgotten, the heroic and the hilarious, artists, activists, inventors, adventurers, and more. A patriotic pageant, and a joy to read."—
David Von Drehle, author of Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America's Most Perilous Year